How an advertising award rewards creativity

“The ultimate goal of the Loeries is to improve the quality of the communication that everyone experiences as part of their daily lives.”

The Loeries celebrated their 40th anniversary this year. The awards began as a way to reward television advertising in South Africa – a new and exciting innovation in the late 1970s. “Forty years later, the Loeries has evolved into the creative benchmark for brand communication across Africa and the Middle East,” explains Andrew Human, CEO at the Loeries. And it’s much bigger than TV now: every point where a brand interacts with people is analysed – traditional categories like film, print and radio but also areas like digital, design, music videos, architecture, live events, PR, shared value, and service design.

Fostering creative excellence

“Our core purpose is to recognise, reward, inspire and foster creative excellence in the advertising and brand communication industry,” says Andrew Human. As the only measure that focuses on Africa and the Middle East, the Loeries carry quite a responsibility to the industry. “More than just maintaining the status quo, advertising has the ability to lead society in terms of our social norms and attitudes, and I believe a major purpose of the Loeries is to inspire and reward communication that positively changes social perceptions.”

A not-for-profit independent association since 2005, the sole purpose of the Loeries is to raise the standard of advertising and brand communication. Part of this is through helping young talented learners with the Creative Future Scholarship. “Creative minds are the lifeblood of our industry and these young minds are our future leaders,” says Human.

The changing digital landscape

“Broadband has changed every aspect of our online communications,” Human explains. “We actually used to receive VHS cassettes and DVDs in the mail (along with cheques), and now virtually every exchange we do is digital. Keeping abreast with this shift is key to our continued success, especially as we engage with new markets across the continent.”

A big part of that is their website – hosted by Hetzner. “Our website is truly our primary access point,” Human explains. “Every communication, across all media – even one-on-one conversations – leads to our website. Every transaction is managed via our website, from simple information sharing, through entry, to delegate registration and the online archive of our winners showcased since 1978.” The website is hosted on a self-managed server because of the complexity of its database. The Loeries runs off its own bespoke software, running very complex databases 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. “We constantly update the server,” explains Human, “and this solution allows us the independence we need.”

A strong hosting partner

Choosing Hetzner as a hosting partner was a strategic move. “We’ve been partnered with Hetzner since 2005, when I started at the Loeries,” says Human. “I knew that our website would become a core component of our business and wanted to ensure we had a strong hosting partner – a decision which has proven to be very rewarding.”

“The Hetzner team have always been incredibly supportive throughout our relationship – quietly there whenever we need them. I could not ask for more if I tried.”